Legal news and management tips for emerging and mid-sized businesses.

Proposed regulation will likely raise taxes on closely held business interest transfers

In early August, the IRS proposed a regulation, that if adopted as written, will have a significant (possibly up to 50%) increase in the transfer of closely held business interests in the gift and estate tax contexts. The proposed “look back” period is three years, so if you’ve used marketability or “control” as a basis for reducing your taxes within the last three years, you’ll want to check in with your accountant, lawyer, and financial advisor pronto!

The proposed regulation has drawn 70+ comments (ranging from “No death tax please” to full out diatribes). You can add your own comment here until midnight, Nov. 2, 2016.